sprague



UNITEDI STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO B. SPRAGUE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO GUSTAV BENEKE, OF SAME PLAGE.

.SASH-HOLDER.

sPEcIrIcA'rIoN forming part ef Letters Patent Ne. 251,649, dated December av, 1881,

Application inea November 12, Iasi. (Ne model.) V

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALoNzo BENJAMIN SPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sash Holders and Fasteners, of which the following is a speci-- cation.

I have produced an improvedsash holder and fastener in which I use flat-faced binders pivotedto levers in such manner as to adjust themselves independently of the levers in parallel relation to the casing, to effect a dat surfacebinding contact upon the window-casing to hold and fasten the sash open or closed, and to cause said flat-faced binders, when withdrawn from their binding action, to assume and maintain by contact with the sash positions parallel to the casing in raising or lowering the window. The at-facedbinders are pivoted to the ends of the levers, so that they are controlled by contact with the casing to give a dat hold, and by contact with the sash to-hold them from turning upon their pivots as the sash is being raised or lowered. For this latter function the sash` is recessed and the binders are formed with flat backs, so that when withdrawn from the casing their flat backs are drawn by the levers upon the dat seats of the recesses, and thus hold the acting faces of the binders free of the casing. The levers are preferably pivoted within a case Inortised in the side bar of the sash, and a spring placed between the levers serves to keep the binders in action.

The object of myimprovement is to hold and fasten the sash to the casing without marring the latter, and by flat pivoted binders.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of my irnproved sash holder and fastener, the flat-faced binders being in position to allow the sash to be raised or lowered, Fig. 2, a similar view, the flat-faced binders being in positions to fasten the sash; and Fig. 3, a face view of the b'i'nders as applied to the sash.

The device is preferably used within one of the vertical bars of the sash, and the levers ct a are pivoted within a metal case, b, mortised in the sash. The levers may be pivoted separately, as shown, or by a pivot common to both,

their handle ends a a projecting at the rabbeted edge of the sash-bar A, and the ends carrying the pivoted dat-faced binders standing sufficiently apart to carry said binders in position to act upon the casing. The handle may be turned inward at right angles to the sash-bar, and the device may be pivoted to the casing B, so that the binders will act upon the inner side of the lower sash-bar.V

The binders are flat plates c, pivoted by a lug, d, to the end of each lever, and have a width nearly equal to the thickness of the sashbar, as shown in Fig. 3. They are about square,

and are preferably faced with sheet-rubber, e,

cemented to the plate. The lug d is centrally placed on the back of the plate c, and the latter is entirely free to adjust itself independently of the lever to give a flat hold upon the casing. A spring, f, connected to the levers, tends constantly to pull the levers toward each other, and therefore to force the binders against the casing, because in such movement the' levers describe arcs of which their pivots are the centers.

The sash-bar face-plate has recesses g on its jaInb-face of a depth just sufficient to receive the binder-plates and free their rubber-faced surfaces from the casin g when the sash is to be raised orlowered. These recessesform seats for the binders when withdrawn, and the action ofthelevers when their handles are pressed together issuch as to pull and hold. the binders upon said sash-seats; otherwise the binders would be liable to stand out of parallel with the casing and to catch into and rub against it as the sash is raised and lowered. For this purpose the backs of the pivoted binders c must be substantially dat and the recessseats g in the sash-bar parallel with the jambface. Both these binders serve to hold the sash, while the upper one serves to fasten the lower sash when closed, as the attempt to raise -the sash will cause the upper binder ,to bind the harder upon the casing by reason of the action of thelever to force the binder out against the casing. In the upper sash the lower binder serves as the fastener.

Levers have been used in the saine relation to each other with fixed cylindrical binders and fixed biting-points, Biting-eceentrics have roo also been pivoted to levers having the same arrangement, the eccentrics being also `pivoted to the metal case to which the levers are pivoted; but the hold upon the sash in all such devices is made by a comparatively small bearing, liable to slip, or by a biting action cutting more or less into the casing, and rendering the painted surface unsightly.' In such devices the binders' can have no adjustment independent of their earryinglevers.

The dat-faced binders give a comparatively large` holding-surface, and being pivoted only to the levers allows of their full face bearing upon the casing, while in releasing their holding action the recess-seats in the sash-bar and the at backs of the binders constitute the means by which, when released, they are held free of the casin g so long as the levers are held with their handles in closed position, asl in Fig.' 1. A

Although I .prefer to face the binders with rubber, yet a metal bearing-face will give a secure hold. y

When the device is applied to the casing the seats for the binders are formed in the case to which the levers are pivoted.

I claim- In combination, the pivoted levers, the Hatfaced binders pivotedto said levers, the spring connecting said levers, and the case to which they are pivoted, the said binders having cen- Vtral lugs by which they are pivoted to the levers, and flat backs co-operatingwith seats to hold said binders free of the casing, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

A. B. SPRAGUE. Vitnesses:

A. E. H. JOHNSON, J. W. HAMILTON JoHNsoN. 

